PlayOn just made the Wii U a much more capable video-on-demand device. Today, the company added the Wii U to its list of PlayOn-compatible devices. It’s also offering Wii U owners a full year of service for free. This promotion is only good through December 24, and requires users to visit http://free.playon.tv/wiiu on their Wii U GamePad to sign up.

Ok, so let’s go over what PlayOn is in the first place. Basically, it’s a service that streams videos over the internet to your computer, game consoles and mobile devices. However, it doesn’t operate in the same manner as Netflix or Hulu. PlayOn has to be installed on a PC in order for anything to work. The PC then sends videos over your home network connection to devices that are on that same network. In short, PlayOn is a media server. If you’ve ever used Windows Media Center to stream videos stored on your PC to your Xbox 360, you’re already familiar with how PlayOn operates.

PlayOn provides access to content provided by ABC, CNN, MTV, HBO Go, Nickelodeon, Syfy and many more. Some of these networks require a cable or satellite subscription to access, but some are free to everyone.

It wouldn’t hurt to give PlayOn a try if you own a Wii U. You may get even more use out of that GamePad.